Iraq executes 42 prisoners over terrorist acts

The Iraqi Ministry of Justice on Thursday announced that it executed 42 convicted prisoners, including one woman, during the past seven days over terror charges. Minister of Justice Hassan al-Shimmary said in a statement that the convicts were found guilty with terrorist crimes, in accordance with the counter-terrorism law, and their rules were final decisions signed by the presidency. The convicts' crimes "led to the death of dozens of innocent civilians, as well as committing other crimes aimed at destabilizing the security and stability of the country," Shimmary said. The increasing of executions in Iraq sparked calls to stop use of capital punishment by the UN mission in Iraq, the European Union and some international human rights groups, which have criticized the lack of transparency in the proceedings of the Iraqi courts. Death penalty in Iraq was suspended for over a year after the U. S.-led invasion. Paul Bremer, then U.S. administrator for Iraq, suspended it on June 10, 2003. However, the Iraqi government reinstated it on Aug. 8, 2004, saying it would curb the widespread violence in the country. Since then, scores of people have been executed, including toppled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.